Minister MacMillan and Director Antonio, who had departed from America on a private jet, arrived at the U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek.

Gerald, who had survived by the skin of his teeth, was there.

Yesterday, he had been secretly transported from Seoul to Pyeongtaek.

The fact that Gerald had nearly died was top secret.

No one could be allowed to know.

Inside the base.

They entered a heavily guarded building,

and at last, Antonio and MacMillan met Gerald.

“Gerald!”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Gerald, wearing an awkward expression, said,

“I’m sorry. I’m reflecting deeply. This will never happen again.”

Director Antonio grabbed Gerald and pulled him into a hug.

“You’re alive. That’s what matters. Just don’t do it again.”

“I’m thinking straight now. I’ll climb at a level that fits my ability.”

“Good. Tell us in detail. What happened inside the Tower?”

“What happened, you ask...”

Gerald began to tell the story.

MacMillan and Antonio listened, nodding.

They’d already heard the rough outline from Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil.

But they needed to hear it from the person involved, and fact-check.

“Gerald.”

“Yes.”

“The man you say saved you—this is him, right?”

Director Antonio held up a photo on a tablet.

“Ah! Yes. It’s him. Ha... I seriously don’t know how to thank him...”

The man in the photo was Bong Juhyeok.

Just as expected.

If it wasn’t this man, who else could pull off something that insane?

Excited, Gerald spilled words without structure.

“If he hadn’t saved me, I would’ve died. My soul almost got pulled out, you know? You have no idea how horrific that experience is.”

“I was so grateful I could’ve cried. I wanted to convey my feelings properly, but we couldn’t communicate, and it was so frustrating.”

“I’m going to learn Korean right away and thank him properly. I should repay him materially too, right? Even if I have to empty my entire fortune...”

Gerald’s voice grew louder and louder.

MacMillan and Antonio understood.

He was the man’s savior.

“Calm down. The compensation will be handled at the U.S. government level.”

“I’m still going to do something personally.”

“We’ll talk about that later.”

All of a sudden, as if Gerald remembered something,

“Ah! While I’m at it, I’ll clear West Coast Tower from Floor 68 onward by renting the holy sword.”

“Why?”

“Because the rental fee goes to him. It’s pocket change, but still.”

Antonio looked at him like he didn’t understand.

“...You already knew this man is the true owner of the holy sword?”

Gerald snorted.

“Do you think I’m an idiot? He’s not just the true owner of the holy sword—he’s an S+++ clearer. Who else could use an item to enter the America Tower and rescue me?”

Fair enough.

“Alright. Do that. For now, you just rest up.”

As they closed the door and left the room, MacMillan said to Antonio,

“A Tower Floor Intrusion Ticket... he must’ve gotten it as an S+++ clear reward, right?”

“Of course. How could an item like that ever show up as an ordinary reward?”

A truly bizarre item.

Though all Tower items were like that, to be fair.

“The name is suspicious, but for America, it was an item of salvation.”

“An item depends on how you use it. The salvation isn’t the item—it’s Bong Juhyeok. That man is salvation.”

That’s right.

Depending on how it’s used, an item can become poison, or medicine.

The Multinational Tower Use Ticket and the Tower Floor Intrusion Ticket were the same in that regard.

You could force-clear a specific nation’s Tower to induce Tower Collapse, or kill another country’s Player.

But Bong Juhyeok didn’t do that.

He used the Multinational Tower Use Ticket to help nations whose Collapse Countdown was right around the corner.

And he used the Tower Floor Intrusion Ticket to rescue a Player standing on the brink between life and death.

“Honestly, at first I thought he was a threat. He’s an individual outside our control, after all. And with overwhelming ability.”

That’s true.

A nation doesn’t welcome an individual with great power.

“But now I have to change my mind. America owes him a great debt.”

“Like I said, to us he’s already a savior.”

“And his character is excellent.”

The moment he confirmed someone was on America Black Tower Floor 72, he intruded immediately.

He burned that precious item without hesitation.

Could an ordinary person do that?

Most people would think of their own benefit first.

“And it’s not just us who benefited.”

Not just America.

The United Arab Emirates. France, too.

“We can’t just sit still. There needs to be sufficient compensation at the government level. Whew... how much do we even set the amount to?”

MacMillan shook his head side to side.

“Money? What are you talking about! Is Player Bong Juhyeok some poor man?”

“Right. That’s why it’s even harder.”

Antonio looked like he’d just thought of something.

“Oh! Earlier, when I spoke with Deputy Commissioner Jeon Gwangil, I asked what Player Bong Juhyeok needs most.”

MacMillan’s eyes shone.

“Oh? And?”

“Trait Enhancement Runes. He doesn’t need anything else.”

MacMillan frowned.

“Trait Enhancement Runes... that’s a difficult task.”

“Ha... yes. It’s not something you can obtain easily.”

“What about on the market?”

“Well. I don’t know if any stock is left.”

America didn’t have any right now.

If they did, they would’ve fed it to Gerald long ago.

What MacMillan meant by “the market” was—

Literally, the place where trades happen.

An intangible place where all sorts of items for Players are secretly traded through extremely discreet channels.

In other words, the black market.

It had existed since the very beginning, since Players first started climbing Towers.

There was even an organization that ran it.

But it was so thoroughly hidden that no one knew who operated it, or how large the organization was.

Even U.S. intelligence had tried to track the black market, but failed every time.

Eradicating it was impossible.

In truth, the black market’s primary customers weren’t individuals—it was governments.

Trait Enhancement Runes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates swept up.

Tower Jumping Tickets China secured.

Level-Up Runes Japan Self-Defense Force purchased.

Where did all of that come from?

“Make contact with the black market. If we have to, we need to get it.”

“Yes. This is a matter of pride. If we accept help and pretend it didn’t happen, it’s a disgrace to America.”

“He deserves to receive what he wants.”

And the most important purpose.

“This is also a chance to make our relationship with Player Bong even closer.”

He was someone America needed to be close with.

A Trait Enhancement Rune was nothing more than a tiny investment for building ties with Bong Juhyeok.

“The problem is the price...”

“The last time we made contact, the purchase price was five billion dollars.”

“Hm.”

But now it would be even rarer.

“It’s gone up at least twofold.”

“Then ten billion dollars?”

“Maybe even more.”

“Then we’ll need White House approval.”

For ordinary, average countries, it’s hard to casually spend that kind of money to secure Trait Enhancement Runes.

There was nothing better for strengthening Players, but the price was so high they couldn’t help hesitating.

But America was different.

Wasn’t it the country that prints dollars?

“If there’s enough stock, buy two. We’ll give one to Gerald.”

“If we can only get one?”

“Then of course we hand it to Bong Juhyeok.”

From here on, Tower climbing would only get harder.

They couldn’t even predict what might happen.

Just look at Kabalan’s curse.

Hadn’t they watched with their own eyes what happened to Japan?

They needed insurance.

Solid insurance named Bong Juhyeok.

*****

Cheongdam-dong penthouse.

Juhyeok was in a very good mood.

So much his shoulders felt like they might lift him into the sky.

Saving someone in danger, and receiving sincere thanks—

You don’t know that feeling until you’ve done it.

How satisfying it is.

“So, did that bastard Gerald really wipe his mouth clean, sir? He didn’t give you anything?”

“What do you mean ‘that bastard’! He’s our holy-sword rental customer. Of course I heard him say thank you.”

Cossack’s face looked weirdly dissatisfied.

“What did he say, sir?”

“Um... ‘Thank you’?”

He said a lot more than that, but Juhyeok’s English was too weak to understand.

“Then what did you say, Summoner Bong?”

“...‘You’re welcome’?”

Cossack slapped the floor with his palm, lamenting.

“Damn it, he wiped his mouth clean, sir. We got stabbed in the back, sir. This is why you can’t just go around saving people, sir. We should’ve negotiated first, sir. ‘How much will you pay?’”

Tch. That greedy streak.

“When you save someone—huh?—how can you demand a price? Huh? It ruins the meaning!”

Cossack still looked wronged.

“America is a rich country, sir. At minimum, they should’ve slapped down one billion dollars, bam.”

No, this guy’s guts are huge.

“One billion dollars isn’t a dog’s name. That’s 1.3 trillion won—one high-rise building in Gangnam.”

“Hmm, that’s true, sir. Still, at least five hundred million dollars...”

“They’ll probably contact us separately later.”

Honestly, it’s not like he had zero expectations.

He saved America’s top Player—

If they wired three hundred million dollars into his account with a “we will compensate you,” how nice would that be?

Anyway, Juhyeok and the summoned entities spent a leisurely time.

Each doing their own thing—watching TV, surfing the web on tablets, taking naps.

He summoned Mari too.

Not Mad Demon.

If he put those two together, they might fight.

Rajix toddled along holding a tray with drinks and snacks.

He knocked lightly on the door of the room Mari was shut inside, then placed the tray by the door and walked away.

A moment later—

Peek. The door opened.

A white hand slid the tray inside.

Thunk. The door closed.

“...Wow! That’s amazing, sir. A shut-in room-corner hikikomori—severe social anxiety, sir.”

“Still, it seems like she’s opened up to Rajix.”

“Rajix is a farmhand human, sir. He’s a hamster, sir.”

Is that why?

“By the way, doesn’t Summoner Bong have any friends, sir?”

“...”

What?

You want to fight?

“You should go out sometimes, meet friends, do hobbies—good for mental health, sir.”

“...”

Like he doesn’t know that.

“Go to reunions and stuff, sir.”

He’d go if anyone contacted him.

“Reunions are so nice, sir.”

“...What’s so nice about them?”

Cossack, looking excited, said,

“One day you get a message that there’s a reunion, and Summoner Bong shows up quietly where all your classmates are, looking like a beggar, sir. Then your classmates think this, sir.”

Think what?

“Tch-tch, Bong Juhyeok, life hard these days? You look like an unemployed bum. You came to ruin the reunion. In that shabby outfit, you dare come to a sacred reunion? Are you going to push some jade mattress on us?”

Mm.

“But then after the reunion, while everyone’s heading home, Summoner Bong takes out a car key and goes click! Then over there, a Bentley flashes its headlights and starts up with a majestic engine sound... kyaah!”

A story he’d seen somewhere a lot—

“Everyone stares in shock—‘Whoa! Whose car is that?’—mouths hanging open, and Summoner Bong gets in that Bentley, bam, sir.”

This... he can picture it?

“The eyes that were looking down on Summoner Bong instantly turn into eyes of envy, sir. ‘That car was Juhyeok’s? You made it!’ Hearing that, you say one line, sir.”

What line.

“That sixty-one-floor building you see over there? Actually, it’s mine. Come visit sometime.”

“...”

Is this guy reading webnovels these days?

“I read chaebol stories, sir.”

“Sure, sure. Keep reading.”

“Yessir!”

Well, he didn’t need to go to reunions.

Look how many friends he had right here.

Across race, gender, age.

If anything, he was more worried about Mari, the room-corner alchemist.

She needed to become close with the summoned entities soon.

While he was at it, let’s talk.

He invited her into a private chat.

<AlphaMale> : Knock, knock. What are you doing?

<Mari> : Playing on the tablet.

She isn’t picking fights in comment sections on some weird site, right?

<AlphaMale> : Um, when you talk to other people, could you at least not swear?

<Mari> : I’ll try.

She’s this normal most of the time.

<AlphaMale> : What kind of field is alchemy? Is it making elixirs and tonics and potions?

<Mari> : Yes. If you have the materials, anything is possible. The most used are herbs.

Herbs.

Tower materials whose true nature still wasn’t fully revealed.

Research was ongoing, but there still weren’t meaningful results.

But now that Mari had been summoned, the day herbs get used properly would come soon.

<AlphaMale> : What kinds of medicine can you make?

<Mari> : Well, Healing Potions, and elixirs for magic power, strength, agility, wisdom, and also tonics that permanently raise abilities.

<AlphaMale> : Mass production?

<Mari> : As much as you want. As long as the materials are sufficient.

That’s good.

Potions also come out as Tower rewards.

But the amount is far too small, and the prices are high.

But if it’s mass production?

Players could buy as much as they wanted at a cheap price, and they’d become even safer.

<AlphaMale> : Can you craft other things too? Like runes, for example.

<Mari> : Runes?

<AlphaMale> : Trait Enhancement Runes.

<Mari> : Hmm... that’s impossible. Unless it’s nectar or elixir.

Nectar and elixir?

<Mari> : Nectar is good. If you drink it, Summoner, you’ll live a long, long time. Healthy, without aging.

<AlphaMale> : Like the Rejuvenation Elixir?

<Mari> : That’s the lowest-grade nectar. Only a ten-year one.

So the Rejuvenation Elixir was the lowest-grade nectar.

<AlphaMale> : Then what about elixir?

<Mari> : It depends on the type. Elixir of Enhancement, Elixir of Resurrection, Elixir of Healing.

Oh!

That’s tempting.

<AlphaMale> : What do you need to make elixir?

<Mari> : The main materials needed for top-grade crafting are Dragon Heart, phoenix feather, fruit of the World Tree, top-grade Magic Stones... and the Philosopher’s Stone.

...What?

Where would you even get that?

<Mari> : I have the Philosopher’s Stone. You just need to get the other materials.

The other materials are the problem.

<AlphaMale> : Do you know where to get them? Is it possible in the Tower?

<Mari> : Of course. They all come from the Tower.

<AlphaMale> : From what floor?

<Mari> : At minimum, Floor 80 or higher.

<AlphaMale> : Ah. Yes, yes.

Still a pie in the sky.

So dragons show up on Floor 80+ or something?

‘Hmm.’

Nothing is easy.

Even after summoning an LSSR alchemist.

What now?

Do they have to climb again?

Not right now.

After Meatshield comes back.

<AlphaMale> : I’ll work hard to find materials and bring them to you. Mari, you don’t need to go into the Tower, so just work comfortably in your room.

An alchemist was non-combat.

And she liked being alone.

<Mari> : I can help in combat too.

<AlphaMale> : Of course. Just making elixirs would already be a huge help.

<Mari> : Not elixirs—um, I made something... I’ll give it to you now.

‘She’s giving me something?’

At that moment—

The door creaked open.

Then a round object about the size of a basketball rolled out.

‘Huh?’

Juhyeok went closer, picked it up, and examined it.

A silver metal sphere.

A perfect sphere without a single seam.

<Mari> : It’s a homunculus. A masterpiece only a high-level alchemist can refine. If you have enough of them, you can even fight a dragon.

Homunculus.

In Latin, a little person.

<Mari> : I can make more for you. As long as there’s enough adamant and orichalcum and other Tower metals, rare herbs, and Magic Stones...

But it didn’t match at all.

‘This is a homunculus?’

It wasn’t even shaped like a person.

It was just a ball.

Made of metal, so it was pretty heavy too.

What do you even do with this?

Play ball with monsters?

<Mari> : Um, I’m sorry, but could you make a small cut on your finger and smear blood on the sphere?

<AlphaMale> : How much?

<Mari> : Just a little.

...

Ugh. He didn’t want ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) to cut himself.

But let’s do what she says.

Juhyeok went to the sink, pricked the tip of his finger with a kitchen knife, and drew blood.

Then he touched the metal sphere.

ZZZZT.

The sphere vibrated.

At the same time, it shone brilliantly.

Like the sun.

And then—

“Ah!”

He felt something.

Juhyeok and the metal sphere—

the two were connected now.

He stood there blankly for a long time.

And at the same time, he realized.

How to use it.

Juhyeok let go of the metal sphere.

It dropped to the floor with a thud.

Then—

SHRRRRAAAK!

It scattered into pieces.

The pieces bounced and kept collapsing.

Small pieces into smaller pieces.

Smaller pieces into even smaller pieces.

Finally, the metal sphere became extremely tiny silver grains, piling up on the living room floor.

Tiny silver grains.

But he could tell.

These weren’t simple fragments.

Each one was, in fact, an individual homunculus.

Juhyeok manifested his will.

Come to me.

Ts-ts-ts!

The silver grains moved.

Like living snakes, they clustered together, wrapped around Juhyeok’s clothes, and crawled up.

Ts-ts-ts-ts-ts!

What did they look like?

They were so small you had to look closely.

Each was about 5mm.

They were shaped like people.

Just a head and torso, with arms and legs.

No eyes, nose, or mouth.

‘So that’s why it’s a homunculus—a little person?’

If you had to compare it, it was like a pictogram.

The little human symbols used on restroom signs, traffic signs, emergency exit marks, or to depict sports—

that kind of shape.

And there were roughly tens of thousands of those grain homunculi.

‘They’re like nanorobots.’

Controlled by his will.

This wasn’t an ordinary alchemy item.

It was made by Mari, an LSSR alchemist. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

And you could even use it in the real world.

‘I should practice.’

Until he got proficient.

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